Oh, Wise Queens of Laundry!

[2squared]

I think I'm seeing a pattern.

 

Daily laundry washers = few laundry baskets

 

Periodic laundry washers (as in one or two days/week or one person's laundry/day) = many laundry baskets

[justamouse]

Are you joking? It's NEVER done. Once in a blue moon I get it all done, and by that night I've got three loads.

 

You should *see* the pile in my laundry room. It's not the washing and the drying-it's the folding. That's what brings it all to a screeching halt.

[Tap]

I think I'm seeing a pattern.

 

Daily laundry washers = few laundry baskets

 

Periodic laundry washers (as in one or two days/week or one person's laundry/day) = many laundry baskets

 

I don't know....we only have 4 and I wash once a week.

Edited May 7, 2011 by Tap, tap, tap

[2squared]

I don't know....we only have 4 and I was once a week.

 

:lol: 4 seems like a lot to me. We only have two baskets outside of the laundry room.

[AnitaMcC]

I keep it simple for me as my laundry area is in basement and the bedrooms are on 2nd floor so I try to avoid going up/down two flights of stairs that often.

 

Kids take their own laundry down as they fill their baskets (or they run out of clean clothes-LOL). Dh and mine are taken down when I ask someone to carry it down for me.

 

I have two sets of 3 divider laundry sorters in the laundry area for dirty clothes. One set is for whites that need bleaching (socks, undies, t-shirts, white towels/rags), kids dark clothes, and everyone's light clothes. The second set is for mine/dh darks, light towels, dark towels.

 

I usually start a load early morning and then another load some time during the day. Once kids hit 11-12 yrs old I teach them how to do their laundry and then they are on their own for their own laundry. I just do mine/dh clothes and kids under 12 yrs old clothes, towels, bedding.

 

I keep a hanging rack next to dryer full of hangers. I hang up most of the laundry as I take it out of the dryer. Otherwise it gets put in a hamper and when full it then goes up stairs and dumped onto my bed for me to fold later. Unless I am totally exhausted, I fold it before I go to bed, or I just pile it back into the baskets to deal with the next day.

 

But I don't really care about wrinkled clothes for most part. Most pants/jeans and shirts are hung up. Clothes get put away as soon as the hanging stuff gets brought up and the other gets folded.

Edited May 7, 2011 by AnitaMcC

[Tap]

:lol: 4 seems like a lot to me. We only have two baskets outside of the laundry room.

 

In my room, in ds's room, in the downstairs pantry, and in the laundry room.

 

 

All of our laundry and dds' go into our room. I don't like towels to go with my clothes so we have one down stairs for bathroom and kitchen towels. One in the laundry room for misc items, so they aren't on the floor. Ds does his own laundry, so he has his own.

 

 

That doesn't seem like a lot to me. I know families with one in each bathroom (3+), one in each bedroom (3+), one or more in the laundry room for sorting (3+), one in the downstairs for misc (1), and sometimes an extra for sports clothes/extra dirty (1). That is easily 10+ baskets. For us to have only 4, is pretty minimal LOL

[Abigail4476]

1. Grandma lives with us. :D

 

2. When Grandma isn't here, :lol: and we're all forced to do our own laundry, this is how it goes down:

 

I wash, dry and fold; everyone else puts away their own clothes. I fold everything onto the couch, and call kids (or my husband) to come get their stack and put it away. I put away linens and my own clothes. I only wash 2-3 loads per day, so I do have time to fold them.

 

It helps me to do all of one thing--I'll do all the towels or all the darks/jeans or maybe all the t-shirts at the same time. Sometimes I do laundry by person. I'll do all of my ds8's laundry, fold it, and have him put it away. etc. Even if I get behind, it's counterproductive for me to try to wash everything at once because I don't like to have a laundry pile. It drives me batty. :tongue_smilie: I do have a sock basket for the kids in their room; my girls wear those MissMatch socks so there aren't any matching pairs anyway. I have to watch those girls--sometimes they'll "clean" their rooms and a bunch of clean clothes that they've tried on and tossed on the floor will end up back in the laundry room. Nope. I don't think so. :glare: (Or they can do their own laundry.)

 

Find a pace that works for you and stick with it. I put a load in every morning, usually a second load around lunch time and a load of towels in the afternoon. Consistency is more important than quantity; wash, dry and put away clothes every day and you'll eventually catch up.

[Abigail4476]

Oh, baskets--I have 1 laundry basket in the master bath, 1 in the kids bathroom, 1 in each of the kids' rooms and 3-4 in the laundry room for sorting. The ones in the bathrooms and bedrooms get emptied into the laundry room and then returned to their rooms immediately.

[AnitaMcC]

This thread is a godsend! I have been totally overwhelmed by the laundry monster in my house. My set-up right now is every room has a basket, every room's clothes are washed on a different day. NOT WORKING AT ALL.

 

This is because a couple of my sons wet their beds. That means pajamas/sheets in need of washing.

 

I made sure to keep 2 sets of bedding available for each bed. If they wet, then first thing in morning the bedding can be changed. I had my kids use night time pullups (One of my son's would wet 3-4 times each night... so it just wasn't feasable to not use pullups for him). And they would put the wet stuff in a "designated" basket that gets take down first thing in morning to be washed.

 

They also have sports clothes that need to be washed more promptly than once a week. I am constantly fishing stuff out of baskets that is "dire" (boys need baseball shirts! baby needs pajamas! Dad needs underwear!) and creating random combination loads. It's driving me insane.

 

I make sure we have enough clothes to get through almost 2 weeks(undies and socks we have enough for 3 weeks). I hate running out of clean clothes and because of my asthma, I just don't always feel up to doing stairs and going into basement is too much for me. For sports... I tried to always have two sets of practice clothes (and game clothes if possible) so that I could avoid the rush and middle of night washings.

 

Also, those who hang up all shirts -- how do your little kids reach their shirts in their closets? I have a couple who wouldn't be able to reach hung stuff. Why do you hang t-shirts instead of fold them? I'm intrigued.

 

When they are little... I have them use a kid step stool to reach their clothes. Hanging up clothes is much easier/quicker to put away IMO. But usually I do fold the t-shirts as we have so many. I don't always fold these right away. But I also don't care if they get a bit wrinkled.

 

ETA: I think I'm going to try the baskets in the laundry room thing... everyone brings their dirty clothes to the laundry room every day. Do 2-3 loads per day. I have plenty of room for baskets in there.

 

I find having the sorting baskets or something in the laundry area really helps. That way each person can sort their own laundry as they bring it down (even preschoolers can do this) and then as it fills up, the laundry can get washed.

 

Also, once kids are old enough to do their own laundry... it really helps to have them do it themselves.

 

Oh, one thing that helps me is that I do normally buy anything that needs to be "specialty" laundered. About the only things that are specialty cleaned are exercise/track pants and a few sports jerseys. Youngest Ds will only wear these pants and I hang 'em to dry.

[Beach Mom]

Laundry has always been a chore I detested. Here's how we tamed the monster at our house. In my master closet their are 3 hampers - dirty towels go in one, whites in the white hamper and colors in the purple hamper. So I never sort laundry. From when they were small my kids learned how to put the clothes in the appropriate hamper. One hamper is emptied and the clothes in it washed every day except Sunday. It isn't a religious thing, it is just a day I take off from laundry.

 

Whoever is laundry helper (one of our chores) gathers the laundry from one hamper and bring it down in the laundry basket to the laundry room as they come down for breakfast. They can tell which hamper because one is always more full than the other two. I start the load before drinking my coffee in the morning. After math, I switch it from washer to dryer and if needed (which it rarely is) start another. I do as many loads as needed to empty the hamper. When the dryer beeps I fold the clothes into a laundry basket in piles sorted by person. In the afternoon the clean clothes are set on each bed and are put away by the owner before they go to bed. The laundry basket goes back to my room for the next laundry helper to use tomorrow.

 

We hang all shirts as it keeps my boys from balling them up in their drawers :glare:. They know how to take them from the clean pile, place them on a hanger and hang them up. We have a step stool in their closets for those who need one.

 

The other thing that helps is that each boy in my house has one kind of white socks different from the others. I know that blue writing hanes goes to this boy, red are Dad's etc. So I never have to match other than by person. Pick any two of any child's white socks and they will match.

 

It is a process that works for us. It has become such a habit that I rarely have to say "bring down the clothes" or "put your clothes away". I still don't like to do laundry but it gets done.

[kathkath]

These have changed my life forever. I have them 6 stacked in my laundry room and can sort straight into them straight from the dryer, 1 per person, 1 for rags and kid socks. I don't fold things the kids fold. I do fold other things straight from the dryer.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Sterilite-12848506-Stacking-Utility-Platinum/dp/B001BKXXOI

[Peela]

Theoretically I wash daily but in reality its more like a few times a week, often 2 washes on days I get around to it.

 

The trick for me is to wash by the person. Everyone has a wash basket in their bedroom and when they bring it to the laundry, it gets washed. Delicates and whites may be separated and combined with others- but its usually only dh that has whites. I wash with cold water, and I always wash on a delicate cycle because it's enough, and I rarely get colour bleeding. So it all goes in the washer and then hung on a rack to dry- we don't own a dryer.

Because it is one person's clothes, when they are dry, they go back in the basket and put back into their bedroom- there is no need for sorting, or a sorting pile.

It makes all the difference here. Mt Washmore exists no more, here.

[Jennifer in MI]

I didn't read all the replies. But, I do a load or two every day. We hang our laundry inside, so my routine is this:

 

1. AM - bring laundry downstairs and sort.

2. Start one load and fold yesterday's load. Everyone has a basket for folded laundry.

3. 45 minutes later, hang laundry.

 

When the baskets are getting full, I have each child go down and put them away.

 

Nobody does his/her own laundry because we don't have enough clothing to do that! But, my older two know how to do each of these steps!

[AnitaMcC]

The other thing that helps is that each boy in my house has one kind of white socks different from the others. I know that blue writing hanes goes to this boy, red are Dad's etc. So I never have to match other than by person. Pick any two of any child's white socks and they will match.

 

 

Same here.

Dh wears only crew socks with red letters.

Ds#1 wears crew and ankle socks and has no letters.

Ds#2 wears only ankle socks with blue letters or stripe line.

Ds#3 wears only crew socks with blue letters or stripe line.

 

Dd wears only no show or ankle socks and but she has a ton of different ones-LOL. It is her problem to sort her socks.

 

Of course I know my socks. :D

[simka2]

Wow! I am in awe of you laundry queens!!!! Wonderful ideas. I just made dh go to Walmart and pick up a boatload of hangers. :D

[texasmama]

These have changed my life forever. I have them 6 stacked in my laundry room and can sort straight into them straight from the dryer, 1 per person, 1 for rags and kid socks. I don't fold things the kids fold. I do fold other things straight from the dryer.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Sterilite-12848506-Stacking-Utility-Platinum/dp/B001BKXXOI

 

Ooh, I like these...may need to incorporate them into my laundry center...

[Momling]

Not a large family....

 

I refuse to do laundry more than one day a week.

Some of things that help this happen are:

-we have a laundry chute

-we all have enough socks and undies and ballet tights to last 1-2 weeks

-we only wash towels and bedsheets when they're actually dirty

-the kids know to put dirty undies and socks down the chute, but to assume jeans and dresses are probably clean unless they have stains.

-I don't let laundry linger half-way done. But I try to get it done in one go.

[MamaAkins]

A load (or occasionally two)a day keeps the laundry monster away! That's what works best for me. I would estimate that I do laundry 4-6 days per week (depending on what we have going on). I try to do at least one load per day, sometimes two. Now that my kids are getting older (13, 9, 7, and 4), it's rare that we go to bed without the laundry being folded and put away. If we do, it's usually because the load is still in the dryer and we get it in the morning.

 

I would estimate that our family of 6 does 4-6 loads of "colored" laundry per week; 2 loads of whites; 2 loads of towels; and 2 loads of sheets/linens. Sometimes we do less during the summer, since there's less "material" to shorts and I can fit more in each load versus the bulky jeans during the winter.

[CalicoKat]

How do you do it? Especially, if you have a large family. What routines have you found that keep the laundry monster at bay? :D

 

...and after you have washed and dried it, but don't have time to fold it, where is th ebest place for a laundry pile? (I know I probly shouldn't have a pile, but I'm taking baby steps ;))

 

I bow to your infinite wisdom. :bigear:

 

Wash several loads every day. I got in the habit of doing a load after a meal. Kind of like brushing your teeth twice a day. I do a load after bfast, after lunch, and after dinner.

 

I fold on the dinner table. The kids are my table setters so they have to put it all away before they can set the table.

 

I fold the way it goes through the washer. If it's inside out, it's folded inside out. I don't have time to turn things right side out.

 

Sock go into a sock basket to be matched as needed. I don't match socks. I fold my over so they go through the wash together. But everyone else just dumps them in. My socks I put on my pile.

[Schastain]

Here at home laundry is a big mess! I have a dh who leaves clothes everywhere and still hasnt found the dirty clothes basket:tongue_smilie:

I have four dc 8 and under with one due in about 12 weeks. I do laundry all day every day. The washer and dryer are going now. The only area to fold is the lr, then the older girls help put away. But there is always laundry folded and piled in here...

Socks- we have a daddy box, mommy box, girls' box and boys box. I gave up trying to match socks.

We used to work at a local children's home. We had ten boys, two to a room. It worked best for them to do laundry by room by day. Room one would do a load before school( 2 washers, 2 dryers), then a load after school, then towels. It worked great for them.

Best bet is to MAKE yourself hang all hanging items immediately.

[Quiver0f10]

We do atleast 5 loads a day. My normal routine is to sort and start a load first thing in the morning while waiting for the coffee to brew. Each week one of my older kids is assigned the task of keeping it going throughout the day. Our laundry room is right off the school room(which is next to the kitchen) so it is easy to make sure it gets done. There is a hamper in the hallway and one in my bedroom. The laundry helper makes sure these are brought into the laundry room in the morning. Ideally they are supposed to fold it as it comes out of the dryer, but the reality is it sits piled on the couch until school is finished lol

Edited May 8, 2011 by Quiver0f10

[Oakblossoms]

Take an inventory to see what you have and need. Put away extras. Toss yucky clothes.

Turn your biggest closet into a family closet

Each child should have no more socks/undies then can fit in a dishpan

Color coordinate hangers

Have a basket in the laundry room for darks and whites. My blue one is for darks and the other is for lights/whites. We do our laundry every day. My baskets hold a full loads worth. So, I start with the full one. My third boy goes to the bedrooms and gets any dirty laundry from the hampers and divides that up.

We do about three loads a day including sheets and cloth diapers.

We have a hanging rack in the laundry room.

If I owned my house, I would find a way to have a family closet with two sets of stacking w/d in the master.

[Already Gone]

Um, after reading all this great advice about folding, I'm pretty embarrassed to admit this, but. . .

 

I don't fold.

 

My laundry set-up is in the kitchen. Next to it I have a large shelving unit, on which are laundry baskets for colors, whites, dirty towels, clean (dish and cleaning) towels, kid #1's clothes, and kid #2's clothes. The last three items get filled straight from the dryer or the clothes lines. I hang all formal wear (which in our house is just church clothes and my husband's stuff) and put everything else (semi-sorted) in bins for my husband and myself. I do actually fold the bath towels, 'cause otherwise they wouldn't fit in the closet. But really, almost everything we wear is made out of t-shirty material and doesn't get very wrinkly.

 

I don't have a large family, so I don't even have an excuse for this. But it (or some variation on it) might help someone who does. :)

 

Also, I want to second the suggestions for a family closet (if you google the term you'll get some awesome set-ups), which I have obviously only a pale copy of, and drastically reducing wardrobe size in the manner described on http://ourmothersdaughters.blogspot.com/ (perhaps a bit off-topic, but I find all her household advice just brilliant).

[cin]

I have 6 sorting bins (DH is very picky) rough whites, light whites, rough darks, light darks, medium colors and khakis, yes, khakis. That is what he wears to work.

 

I sort the laundry when it makes it to the basement, and I do a load a day. Pretty much every day of my life, I do a load of laundry, even if it's small.

 

We have 2 pink baskets for Z, and 2 green baskets for P, and 4 or 5 for Dh & I. I do not fold laundry, except for socks. I hang what I want to look nice, and the rest I just toss in their basket. I've tried folding it. Then I watched them cram it into their drawers. I'm not wasting my time on that anymore.

 

When the baskets are full, DH carries the laundry up. (laundry is in the basement, and the bedrooms on the 2nd floor, and I'm extremely accident prone!)

[simka2]

Ooooooh! I need to update my own thread. So, I got my laundry room clean and organized. Then I got a bunch of new hangers, because we definately needed more. I started off by washing everything in the dirty clothes. As every load came out I folded, hung up, threw away, or packed away for winter every single item. My youngest has become the laundry hauler. He takes anything anywhere I need him to ;)

 

True confessions: I was surprised at how fast I could fold a load and how soothing it was. It was like a mini escape with a soothingly warm, clean smelling massage for stressed out emotions. Occasionally, the kids would have an issue, but they learned to find me. Also, it was easier. Who knew that warm laundry was easier to fold than cold?!

 

Next, I assigned the kids a laundry day. Dh and I have Mon, the twins have Wed, and dd10 partners with ds5 on Thur. All the kids already knew how to wash and fold a load so this was really simple to implement.

 

I am at the point where I am actually looking forward to Mon!!!!

 

Everything, includeing bedsheetss and towels has been washed and it feels so good!!!! Now to really cement this over the next few weeks. :D

Edited May 13, 2011 by simka2

[Maeintx]

I have not read all the responses, so please forgive if I duplicate someone else's ideas.

 

I have 4 boys, dh and I. 5 laundry baskets. For the boys, I take down their basket of dirty clothes and wash it all together. I only seperate out jeans and reds (I just basically try to avoid them having reds or colors that would bleed) and any dressier clothes, if there are any. I don't feel bad about it one bit. Then, I fold directly from the dryer into that basket and said child puts his clothes away. I also do a load of towels every day. I bought all white hand towels and wash clothes. Any whites from that child that needs bleaching, socks, etc I put in with the towels. So the max I do is 3 loads a day, usually just 2. I hang almost all the shirts coming straight from the dryer- even tee shirts. I only fold their shorts and PJ's. Socks don't get mated- just thrown in the basket. They can mate if they want them neat.

 

I do laundry every day. Ds1 on Monday, Ds2 on Tuesday, Ds3 on Wednesday, Ds4 on Thursday. I do mine and dh's on Friday- I hang all of ours except, underclothing and shorts, etc. Saturdays we try to get the bedding washed. Sundays are no laundry days.

 

It is the only way I can keep up with it.

[newbie]

Oh yeah, I have to change the laundry, thanks.